N.Y. Chief Deals Blow To Alternative-Assessment Plans

By Bess Keller

In a setback for opponents of one-shot, "high stakes" tests, New York state Commissioner of Education Richard P. Mills last week rejected a bid by about 40 nontraditional schools to substitute individually tailored projects for the English examination the state recently began to require for graduation.

The schools, all but a few in New York City, had fought a high- profile battle backed by officials of the New York City district to avoid the English exam.( "Mills To Decide Soon on N.Y. Testing Waivers," Jan. 12, 2000.)

Their failure signals that Mr. Mills, like state education officials elsewhere, is inclined toward uniform standards for high school graduation, even though they are likely to cost some students their diplomas. The prospect that fewer students will graduate from high school has cast the exit exams in a controversial light, both in New...